Natwest boosts AI strategy with AWS and Accenture July 23, 2025 Natwest Group has announced a five-year collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and consultancy Accenture to accelerate its bank-wide data and AI transformation, ahead of its half-year earnings release scheduled for July 25. The agreement forms part of the group’s broader strategy to simplify its operations and offer a more personalised customer experience. By consolidating data currently housed [...]
Deregulation drive risks repeat of financial crisis, Bank of England governor says July 22, 2025 The governor of the Bank of England has distanced himself from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ deregulation agenda, suggesting the move could cause a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. Andrew Bailey told MPs on the Treasury Committee that the UK “cannot compromise” on financial stability after the government laid out plans to remove regulatory red tape [...]
Natwest and Lloyds: What to expect from FTSE 100 bank earnings next week July 21, 2025 The FTSE 100’s banking titans, Natwest, Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC are gearing up for what promises to be an interesting half-year reporting season. Lloyds and Natwest will kick off earnings on July 24 and July 25 followed by peers Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered the following week. The first quarter was defined by President Donald Trump’s [...]
Ofwat to be replaced with ‘new regulator’ amid Thames Water crisis July 18, 2025 Ofwat, the water watchdog, is expected to be abolished and replaced by a new body next week after facing intense scrutiny over sewage firms and the poor performance of major companies including Thames Water, according to reports. A consultation on the creation of a new regulator is expected to be announced next week after results [...]
Bank of England urged to hold interest rates despite jobs drop July 17, 2025 A leading City forecaster has advised Bank of England policymakers to vote to hold interest rates at its next meeting in August to help battle rising inflation. Robert Wood, UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, warned the Bank of England not to read too much into the drop in jobs numbers, with initial estimates by the [...]
Rachel Reeves’ tax raid leads to thousands of job losses as wage growth cools July 17, 2025 Thousands of jobs were lost in June, official data has shown, putting the Bank of England under greater pressure to deal with the consequences of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £20bn tax raid at its next interest rates decision in August. Bank Governor Andrew Bailey has warned that “softening” in the labour market could force rate-setters to [...]
The Bank of England is right: £25bn in assets isn’t that much for an SME lender July 17, 2025 Mid-tier banks have long faced regulatory hurdles that hinder growth, especially the minimum requirements once a lender’s assets reach £15-£25bn. Thankfully that’s about to change, but that should be just the start of reforms, says Nigel Terrington Each week, my commute to Paragon’s Solihull headquarters takes me past HS2 construction sites, bustling with heavy machinery [...]
Financial services firms dealt tens of millions in regulatory fines July 17, 2025 While deregulation may be the political mood, UK watchdogs are sharpening their swords as banking giants bleed millions in regulatory fines. In under just ten days, the Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England handed out £74.9m worth of fines to a trio of UK financial services firms. Leading the pack, and most recently, was [...]
Pressure on Bank of England and Reeves as inflation spikes July 16, 2025 The UK economy is at risk of ‘stagflation’ after official data revealed that inflation edged up to 3.6 per cent in June, putting further interest rate cuts by the Bank of England at risk. In the latest set of price growth data before the next monetary policy decision in August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that [...]
Bank of England looks for jobs data revisions ahead of rate decision July 15, 2025 The Bank of England will be looking out for any revisions to the number of people pushed out of work on Thursday when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes fresh jobs data, with an interest rate decision set to hinge on the extent of the deterioration in the labour market. Last month, the official [...]